2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

Forums › Health and fitness › 2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

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Mad Scientist
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#2537680 10-Aug-2020 10:34

Fred99:
Batman:

only 53% of Brits would definitely have vaccine while "about a third in certain groups won't" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/09/only-half-of-britons-would-definitely-have-covid-19-vaccination

That's a serious problem. Of course anything from government to educate or encourage the public to get vaccinated becomes target for conspiracy theory - reinforcing their belief that microchips are being injected or whatever. Social media companies have failed society.

I dare say this figure is representative of the global picture. US and UK similar it's not just the US.

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#2537771 10-Aug-2020 11:35

Batman:I dare say this figure is representative of the global picture. US and UK similar it's not just the US.

2016 data:

Overall sentiment towards vaccine importance is positive across all 67 countries, however there is wide variability between countries and across world regions. Confidence in vaccine safety is less positive, particularly in the European region, which has seven of the ten least confident countries, with 41% of respondents in France and 36% of respondents in Bosnia & Herzegovina reporting that they disagree that vaccines are safe, followed by Russia (28%) and Mongolia (27%), with Greece, Japan and Ukraine not far behind (25%). This is compared to a global average of 12%.

https://www.vaccineconfidence.org/research-feed/the-state-of-vaccine-confidence-2016

I suspect that the situation would have changed since 2016 - thanks to Russian Bots and deluded celebrity "experts" on social media.

tieke

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#2537772 10-Aug-2020 11:35

hairy1:

I don't know if this has been posted yet but great interview with Bill Gates from Wired:

https://www.wired.com/story/bill-gates-on-covid-most-us-tests-are-completely-garbage/

I was interested in his Seattle Covid Testing trial:

"There’s this thing where the health worker jams the deep turbinate, in the back of your nose, which actually hurts and makes you sneeze on the healthy worker. We showed that the quality of the results can be equivalent if you just put a self-test in the tip of your nose with a cotton swab. The FDA made us jump through some hoops to prove that you didn’t need to refrigerate the result, that it could go back in a dry plastic bag, and so on. So the delay there was just normal double checking, maybe overly careful but not based on some political angle. Because of what we have done at FDA, you can buy these cheaper swabs that are available by the billions. So anybody who’s using the deep turbinate now is just out of date. It’s a mistake, because it slows things down."

Fred99

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#2537779 10-Aug-2020 11:48

tieke:

hairy1:

I don't know if this has been posted yet but great interview with Bill Gates from Wired:

https://www.wired.com/story/bill-gates-on-covid-most-us-tests-are-completely-garbage/

I was interested in his Seattle Covid Testing trial:

"There’s this thing where the health worker jams the deep turbinate, in the back of your nose, which actually hurts and makes you sneeze on the healthy worker. We showed that the quality of the results can be equivalent if you just put a self-test in the tip of your nose with a cotton swab. The FDA made us jump through some hoops to prove that you didn’t need to refrigerate the result, that it could go back in a dry plastic bag, and so on. So the delay there was just normal double checking, maybe overly careful but not based on some political angle. Because of what we have done at FDA, you can buy these cheaper swabs that are available by the billions. So anybody who’s using the deep turbinate now is just out of date. It’s a mistake, because it slows things down."

It (nasopharyngeal swab) discourages people from getting tested. They need to sort this out, even if the other less invasive/uncomfortable test methods have a slightly higher false-negative rate, on balance it might be more than offset by encouraging more people to get tested.

The US is royally screwed on testing - I'm reading that people are waiting up to two weeks for (PCR) test results.

I don't know about the "quick" PCR tests the UK govt is buying. Though they can get a result in an hour, I think the machine can only process one test at a time. So very useful for some situations, but I can't see it as viable when you need to test millions of people in screening programs.

tieke

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#2537826 10-Aug-2020 12:15

Fred99:

The US is royally screwed on testing - I'm reading that people are waiting up to two weeks for (PCR) test results.

Gates' point on this was pretty accurate - as US testing companies are paid per test with no penalties for how long it takes to get results, they will accept as many tests as they can (eventually) process in order to maximise income. If instead they were told that they wouldn't get paid for testing if it took over 48 hours for results to arrive, they would change their processes to have their tests back by then/not take on the excessive tests that would overload their system and be pointless for all involved.

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#2537835 10-Aug-2020 12:22

Genomic epidemiology reveals transmission patterns and dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Aotearoa New Zealand

Geoghegan et al (Preprint)

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.05.20168930v2

wellygary

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#2537889 10-Aug-2020 14:16

Fred99:

The US is royally screwed on testing - I'm reading that people are waiting up to two weeks for (PCR) test results.

I don't know about the "quick" PCR tests the UK govt is buying. Though they can get a result in an hour, I think the machine can only process one test at a time. So very useful for some situations, but I can't see it as viable when you need to test millions of people in screening programs.

Yeah, I'd seen that sort of length of time for results too... people are not going to go home and self isolate if they have to wait two weeks for a result...

It basically means that testing in the US is not helpful as a screening mechanism, its only useful as a statistic...

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#2538002 10-Aug-2020 15:56

Fred99:

tieke:

"There’s this thing where the health worker jams the deep turbinate, in the back of your nose, which actually hurts and makes you sneeze on the healthy worker. We showed that the quality of the results can be equivalent if you just put a self-test in the tip of your nose with a cotton swab........

It (nasopharyngeal swab) discourages people from getting tested. They need to sort this out, even if the other less invasive/uncomfortable test methods have a slightly higher false-negative rate, on balance it might be more than offset by encouraging more people to get tested...........

I have said this before (CORONAVIRUS NASOPHARYNGEAL SWAB TESTING 27-Mar-2020 00:41)

but it is worth repeating:

So the most comfortable method for specimen collection is starting with the head in the neutral position and to slightly tip the head back. That way you can get a good look along the floor of the nose towards the back. Now insert the swab horizontally along the floor of the nasal cavity with the swabs stick portion touching the top of the front opening of the nose, the nares. Insert till it is approximately the same distance as it is to the outer opening of your ear. Now withdraw giving the swab a quick rotated twist on the way out.

If it hurt, then it was not done correctly. If it felt very briefly uncomfortable then job well done, now go home.

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

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#2538006 10-Aug-2020 16:10

Press release:

The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Henry Puna have welcomed the completion of phase one in the establishment of a travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Island.

Negotiations on the text of an ‘Arrangement to Facilitate Quarantine-Free Travel between the Cook Islands and New Zealand’ are at the point of conclusion and this was reported to the Cook Islands Cabinet last Friday and the New Zealand Cabinet today.

The Arrangement outlines the health and border requirements for each country to meet in order to recommence quarantine-free travel, and annexes provide further detail on the implementation, including border and travel protocols.

Phase two will see health and border officials from both countries undertake quality assurance and system stress test checks to ensure the requirements in the Arrangement can be implemented on the ground.

Once assurance of the arrangements is guaranteed, phase three is a decision from the respective Cabinets that the Arrangement and on the ground measures can be started safely and quarantine free travel can begin.

Both Governments are hoping to have a travel bubble in place before the end of the year, and as soon as it can be safely achieved.

“The Arrangement sets up the legal basis for the travel bubble and quarantine travel between New Zealand and the Cooks and all the rules and requirements that we need in place to make it work safely,” Prime Minister Ardern said.

“This Arrangement recognises the constitutional relationship and special ties between New Zealand and the Cook Islands, and provides the framework to recommence travel without the need to quarantine on arrival in both countries.

“Once in force, the Arrangement will facilitate the return to normal travel between our two countries, while acknowledging that the priority remains to protect our populations from COVID-19.

“We now need to make sure the commitments made in the Arrangement can be met and that both countries have robust health and border system that stop the spread of COVID.

“We need to stress test the arrangement, ensure testing and surveillance systems are strong, that we have contact tracing systems in place in the event of a case and that both countries can ensure those eligible for travel within the New Zealand/Cook Islands travel bubble meet the requisite health and border criteria as detailed in the Arrangement.”

Prime Minister Puna said that the free movement of people between the Cook Islands and New Zealand was vitally important to sustain economic and social connections.

“We are moving forward together with New Zealand in a way that balances economic and social needs with the importance of maintaining strong public health efforts in both our countries, and cooperation with travel sectors to implement safe travel protocols.

“As part of its COVID-19 response, the Cook Islands closed all air and sea borders in March. We have been COVID free to this day. The elimination by New Zealand of community transmission of COVID-19 100 days ago enabled some resumption by the Cook Islands of arrivals from New Zealand only.

“On the 19 June the Cook Islands resumed quarantine free travel arrivals from Auckland only for Cook Islands residents who meet Cook Islands health and border entry requirements including 30 days prior residence in New Zealand. Since the 19 June, we’ve continued to strengthen our border and health capabilities including stress testing. That work combined with recent joint efforts between New Zealand and Cook Islands health and border officials through this Arrangement assures me both Governments are giving this matter utmost priority and we will be able to have commence quarantine free travel between ourselves as soon as it can be safely achieved.

“We look forward to once again welcoming family and visitors from New Zealand without the restriction of quarantine on both ends, when all the appropriate measures are in place.”

There will be a report back on progress in two weeks’ time.

The two Prime Ministers will sign the Arrangement once the conditions for safe travel to recommence are in place. Officials will work closely with industry to progress this work.

freitasm

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#2538128 10-Aug-2020 18:32

Press release:

Managed isolation charges for returnees will come into force from 12.01am Tuesday 11^th August, after they passed their last cabinet milestone today, Housing Minister Megan Woods said.

“The new charging system balances the rights of New Zealanders to return home and helps reduce pressure on the managed isolation and quarantine system, while recovering some of the costs from those who choose to leave and enter the country on holidays or business trips,” Megan Woods said.

“Anyone who needs to come home but cannot afford the charges will still be able to come home. Exemptions are available for certain groups of people and waivers from charges are possible on a case-by-case basis for undue financial hardship and in special circumstances (such as compassionate grounds).

“New Zealand citizens and residents currently overseas are not liable for charges if they are returning home permanently. Temporary visa holders who were ordinarily resident in New Zealand before our border was closed on 19 March, are not be liable for a charge on their return if they were out of the country on 19 March (unless they are a critical worker).

“New Zealanders who come home temporarily (for less than 90 days) and those who go overseas after regulations come into force and return at a later date, will be charged for managed isolation and quarantine, unless they are exempt or are granted a waiver from payment.

“The charges cover less than half of the average total costs for managed isolation and quarantine. For a single person in a room, the charge is $3,100. Additional adults or children sharing that room will be charged $950 and $475 respectively and including GST.

“This charging system makes an important contribution to our public health response to COVID-19. An integral part of our public health response is the requirement that people arriving in the country go into managed isolation or quarantine for at least 14 days.

You can find out more information on www.miq.govt.nz

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#2538144 10-Aug-2020 19:15

CNN anchor to Trump supporter: What you're saying is unscientific

CNN

CNN's Boris Sanchez had a spirited exchange with Bikers for Trump Founder and political candidate for congress Chris Cox over his claims on the coronavirus pandemic and its origins.

only 1% die (mortality rate is complicated)
it's a planned epidemic who
1. areTrump's opponents
2. are one extremely well-organized cabal
3. who hate blue collar workers
4. who want mail-in ballots
5. to cheat
6. timed the virus release to create protests
7. to let lizard people take control (just joking about last logical jump)
CNN is in the cabal with "Black Lives Matter" and antifa against Bikers for Trump
5,000 masks and 37 liters of sanitizer are being supplied by Bikers for Trump for the 250,000 participants over 10 days.
positive results are lies to make people have heart attacks
virus was created to polarize Americans
world-wide coroners have conspired to falsify death certificates to damage Trump's re-election
virus will disappear world-wide after Presidential election

GV27

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#2538494 11-Aug-2020 10:38

I mean....what is there to say

freitasm

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#2538505 11-Aug-2020 11:06

Yesterday my wife showed me some Facebook comments. Either trolls or idiots. One of them was a person saying how New Zealand turned into a communist dictatorship. Another saying how the country only worries about rich people.

More and more of these people are coming out...

Batman

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#2538512 11-Aug-2020 11:11

Those points are exactly what half the world believes. Not just Americans I mean a Trump supporters. I have one such friend in US, and one in NZ (Kiwi). Both have post grad degrees. They are not friends so they're independent of each other. Go to Sky News AU on YouTube and you'll see half of the Australians also the same.

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#2538518 11-Aug-2020 11:35

Regrettably, I have to concur. I have good NZ friends (not at all stupid) who are also completely immersed in this Trump/conspiracy/QAnon BS and are helping spread it to NZ with their anti-Jacinda crap. It really is like a virus. I don't understand at all how people can be swallowed up by this nonsense but I have given up trying. It is like some kind of stampede to superstitious barbarism. It is incredibly dangerous but it seems unstoppable. In a few more years we will probably be burning witches again.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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